Burn A Baby For God Today

[cathuria]

I ran across this interesting tidbit in my recent reading and thought I should post it just for general edification and comment.

I finally reached the chapter on “Yahwistic Cultic Practices” in Mark S. Smith’s book, The Early history of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel. It is a rather dry book and the author, in general, gravitates to the more orthodox & less sensational interpretations of the evidence. But even he concludes unequivocally that the ancient Israelites practiced child sacrifice in the name of Yahweh.

 

As an aside, it must be noted that the ritual sacrifice of infants and young children was not unknown in the ancient Mediterranean; there is evidence of it in many cultures. Keeping in mind the high incidence of infant mortality back in the day, a child less than one year old could not be relied on to reach adulthood. The sacrifice of a precious child upon the altar seems emotionally huge, of course, and should be sure to sway the will of the gods. Yet in the cold, hard math of practicality, the loss of an infant cost the society almost nothing in terms of community resources. People were all the time making, and burying, babies anyway. And like so many “pagan” practices, the early Hebrews shared this custom with their neighbors – and occasionally sacrificed children to appease their wrathful god.

 

The evidence for this is not just found outside the Bible. Smith notes Genesis 22, Leviticus 20:3, Isaiah 30:27-33, and Ezekiel 20:25-26, and concludes that child sacrifice in Israel continued as late as the seventh century B.C. Evidence in other and later documents (Deut. 12:29-31 & 18:9-10, Jeremiah 7:30-31) shows how, as the cult of Yahweh gained ascendance in the Hebrew community, this practice (which was also common among worshippers of Baal) was suppressed, condemned, and eventually abolished.

 

So... the ultimate conclusion is that our Judeo-Christian religions are all grounded fundamentally in a cult that practiced ritual murder of children to the Glory of God.

Somehow that seems... sadly appropriate, really.

[willybilly30]

dosent suprise me look what he did to his son jesus in john 3:16 its sick.

[thunderbolt]

I checked out the references that you posted, and a little unrelated had to pick up my jaw from the floor when I read this:

 

I did this because they did not observe my regulations, they rejected my statutes, they desecrated my Sabbaths, and their eyes were fixed on their fathers’ idols. I also gave them decrees which were not good and regulations by which they could not live. I declared them to be defiled because of their sacrifices – they caused all their first born to pass through the fire – so that I would devastate them, so that they will know that I am the Lord.’ (Ez 20:24-26)

 

Do we need any more evidence that the Abrahamic god is a sadistic son of a bitch who doesn't care about people? Holy shit, how can we trust anything he says by this verse alone. This means that no Christian can defend if they are following the right set of rules, because they have no proof that even if God was the author of the Jesus myth, that it's not another such even tot lead them astray, just so that he can declare the defiled in the end.

 

What an absolute asshole this god is!

[Lycorth]

dosent suprise me look what he did to his son jesus in john 3:16 its sick.

 

Precisely - and the whole concept of the execution of Jesus™ really makes more sense when you vew it in light of the evidence. The ancient Jews were practicers of child sacrifice, and their gods (made by them, of course) naturally wanted such things. Hence, when their religions views developed and offshoots began to sprout, it's perfectly logical that the new religion would include something about a human sacrifice.

 

More evidence why Yahweh/Jehovah is a demented turd who deserves absolutely no respect by the human community any longer, Jewish or Gentile. As Ragnar Redbeard said, we must pluck him by the beard, uplift a broad axe, and split open his worm-eaten skull - and rid ourselves of this boogeyman once and for all.

 

The more I persist on this board and in my freethinking, the more evidence I see that Xianity and its relatives were indeed the true evils of the world, and the decision to deny them all was one of the best I ever made.

[Guest Roulette 6]

I checked the verses cited and all of them, with the exception of the one saying God gave statutes that could not be followed, condemn the sacrifice of children. In the Abraham sacrificing Isaac account, we find that it was a test. God never meant to have Abraham go through with the sacrifice.

 

I'm no theologian, so bear with me: When God says He gave them statutes the people could not follow (like infant sacrifice), it's possible that it's an example of how He harderened people's hearts. It's also possible (and likely, I dare say), that those sacrifices weren't for Yahweh at all, but for the pagan gods He warned against.

[cathuria]

Well, first about the Abraham passage... you did notice how ol' Abe didn't seem to show much surprise at being asked to kill his son?

 

Yes, nearly all the passages involve condemnation of the practice -- that is significant. They wouldn't be trying to stop something unless it was actually happening; and these condemnations are not always directed against Canaanites, but Hebrews as well (who, we know from even more condemnations, were always sliding back into "pagan" practices). The scriptures indicate that sacrifice was made to both Baal and Yahweh; this is fitting because during the monarchic period (when child sacrifice was being stamped out) Yahweh was in the process of absorbing Baal's character and divine jurisdictions, as part of a move towards monolatry and eventually monotheism.

 

This can be seen more clearly from a study of cultural anthropology rather than just the scriptures. The book cited in my first post is a good (if dry) introduction to the subject.

[Guest Roulette 6]

Well, first about the Abraham passage... you did notice how ol' Abe didn't seem to show much surprise at being asked to kill his son?

 

Yes, nearly all the passages involve condemnation of the practice -- that is significant. They wouldn't be trying to stop something unless it was actually happening; and these condemnations are not always directed against Canaanites, but Hebrews as well (who, we know from even more condemnations, were always sliding back into "pagan" practices). The scriptures indicate that sacrifice was made to both Baal and Yahweh; this is fitting because during the monarchic period (when child sacrifice was being stamped out) Yahweh was in the process of absorbing Baal's character and divine jurisdictions, as part of a move towards monolatry and eventually monotheism.

 

This can be seen more clearly from a study of cultural anthropology rather than just the scriptures. The book cited in my first post is a good (if dry) introduction to the subject.

 

 

Okay, gotcha. I was under the impression that the verses were meant to indicate that infants were being sacrificed to God frequently (and that God approved). And the absence of distress in the passage is an interesting observation, considering the moral of the story is that Abraham showed loyalty to God through his willingness to sacrifice someone who was very dear to him.